Young Writers Society

They brought Amy's beer out right away, and she had finished one and ordered another. There was a part of her that knew that it was wrong, but she couldn't help herself.

Then, the food came. It was one of the best burgers she'd ever had.

"I wonder where we are," Amy said quietly.

Bo was surprised at how quickly the food was getting brought to them. He felt like he'd only just ordered, and now the robot was coming out, putting freshly cooked, warm curry in front of him in a bowl, with the rice, and the pitas, and everything.

Either this was magic, the cooks were really impossibly fast robots, the cooks could read minds, or the cooks were not getting paid enough for this. He decided to believe it was more supernatural than anything.

He took a bite, surprised that it tasted amazing and not like a rush order at all. He would have to tip well.

After swallowing, he looked to Amy, noting her Nirvana shirt.

"I, for one, have no idea, but I have a very strong feeling that I'm not in L.A. anymore. That much seems obvious."

“Oh yeah?” Amy said, curious. “I’m from LA. Live in Seattle now. But I don’t think we’re there either.”

"Oh, wow! What are the odds?" Bo smiled. "Seattle's probably a big change of pace from L.A., huh? I've never been there before."

"It's all right," Amy said nonchalantly. She barely knew these people and didn't want to get into how she'd followed Scott there. Not yet, anyway. "Kurt Cobain is from there, so there ya go."

Honestly? Evaline was convinced she was dreaming. There was no way she appeared in this room with total strangers eating food in a restaurant like they were best friends catching up on a Friday night. Right?

She pinched her hands repeatedly, but no amount of minor pain seemed to make a difference. This was very real. Odd, but real.

And she had no idea what these people were talking about, nor did she feel comfortable casually contributing to the conversation. She was starting to regret sitting down with them, and although she could leave, she didn't know how they would react. Would they be aggressive? Would they follow her? There were so many unknowns, and she hated it.

Evaline found herself staring at the food across from her, which was Bo's curry. She didn't know what exactly was in it, but it was the most familiar-looking food anyone had ordered, and she found herself wondering if she should have ordered food. It had been so long since she had a decent warm meal...

Télos sunk back in his chair.

The pumpkin pie still tasted delicious, but overhearing the conversation suddenly made him remember how out of place he was right now. He didn't know what L.A. or Seattle where. He guessed they had to be places, but were they cities? Nations? He was too scared to say anything. If he opened his mouth, he was sure someone was going to realize he wasn't as human as he appeared.

He took a nervous bite out of his pumpkin pie.

His gaze shifted. Evaline - who Télos was more worried about than anyone else - hadn't gotten anything to eat. But she was eyeing Bo's food like she wanted some of it. Télos glanced down at his own food. He could definitely eat it on his own, but...

He slid the plate a little in Evaline's direction.

"Do you want some of my pie?" he asked. "They must have just taken it out of the oven - it's still nice and warm."

He faltered, not wanting to offend the only person here who definitely knew how to put someone in a chokehold.

(He could probably do it, too, but he was rusty.)

"Not that you, er, have to have it!" he hurriedly added, holding one hand up in what was almost surrender and using the other to sheepishly rub the back of his neck. "You just looked hungry and I don't mind sharing, so..."

He gave an awkward grin.

Evaline shifted her gaze at Télos and then the pie in front of him, trying to keep her expression cool when in reality she died a little inside when he pointed out that she looked hungry. Was she that obvious? She spoke up before her embarrassment could rise to the surface.

"What is it?" she asked. She didn't really know what a pie was, but he did say it was pumpkin, and so if she had to guess, it was like an open sandwich of pumpkin purée. It was a weird concept, but at this point, it was the most normal weird thing to happen today.

Télos stared for a moment.

He tried his best to hide that he had stared, but he had been sure that people from Earth knew what pumpkin pie was. The players he knew hadn't been surprised when he expressed his love for it. Maybe it was a regional thing. He didn't see why it would be when pumpkins grew almost everywhere, but maybe Evaline just wasn't lucky enough to live near a pumpkin patch.

"It's pumpkin pie," he said. "A pumpkin's like a...gourd, I think? I don't know plants. But I do know what the taste is like - it's sweet and warm. It does have a little bit of a kick to it, but it's the best food in any world-"

Télos faltered.

...People from Earth weren't supposed to know about other worlds.

"I know what a pumpkin is," Evaline barked back defensively.

Télos seemed to trail off after he mentioned the odd phrase 'any world,' and although Evaline noted this and let it seep into her mind that maybe, just maybe, these people babbling nonsense and wearing strange clothes were not from the same place she was. As crazy as it sounded, maybe it was more than just being from a different continent. Maybe they were from the past, or the future, or some faraway planet. The idea that they were aliens pretending to be human was laughable, but at this point, she felt like she was beginning to become desensitized to weirdness.

But, more important things to discuss here, like making it known that she knew what a pumpkin was.

"But they're not... sweet, in my experience," she quietly added, staring back at the pie again. Now she was intrigued. Was it dessert? She found that hard to believe.

The light bulb went off in his head.

"Oh," Télos said, understanding finally dawning on him. Evaline knew what a pumpkin was, but she didn't know what went into a pumpkin pie. He tried to remember the exact recipe - it had been awhile since he made it, and he always used recipe books when cooking. "Pumpkin pie has other things that make it sweet, too. There's sugar and cinnamon. It's really good, so if you like sweet desserts, you'll probably like it."

He frantically held his hands up in surrender.

"Not that you have to eat it!" he reassured her. "I just didn't want you to miss out because you didn't know what it actually had in it."

Amy was about finished with her beer by now, and she was about to order another one when she realized the others were still talking about pumpkin pie.

"Oh my god, shut up already!" She exclaimed. "We get it! Pumpkin's good! Find another topic!"

Then, she flagged down the waiter and ordered another beer, too tipsy to care about the alcohol wafting off of her breath.

Her senses were dulled. Just the way she liked it.

Bo flinched just a little at Amy's outburst and watched as the waiter went to grab her another beer - one she probably didn't need. It was clear that she was getting tipsy. Sitting right beside her, he could smell it.

He smiled weakly.

"So uh, you listen to Nirvana. What other kinds of music do you enjoy?" he asked her.

Télos slowly lowered his hands.

His first reaction was to think that it was an Earth thing to not talk about topics for that long. The only person who ever seemed to mind at home was Aleks, and he had a tendency to get irritated quickly. But then Télos thought back to memories he hadn't considered in a long time. Hero, Oracle, Robra, Misa - they had always been comfortable with him talking about a topic for a long period of time.

But they weren't the only gods, back then.

And not everyone was as found of how excited he could get about things, either.

It wasn't that long of a conversation. Télos knew that, and he kept reminding himself of it. Even if he didn't recognize the name of what Amy kept getting, he could recognize the smell. He knew alcohol made you say and do questionable things.

But even when Aleks had his worst outbursts, there was always a good reason behind it. There was a reason she would have gotten upset in the first place.

So Télos let his hands fall to his side. He slid the plate a little closer to Evaline, hoping it would convey the words he didn't want to risk saying anymore. He didn't apologize; he couldn't bring himself to do that, either.

He just sat silently and listened to the other conversation, trying his best to pick up on the cues that he must have missed earlier.

Amy looked over at Bo. The second beer was already coursing its way through her veins, and she didn't care at how she was coming across. She still wasn't drunk enough, not in the way she was used to being.

"I like ELO, and Elvis Presley and Elton John," Amy said. "But Nirvana is just the best. Why'd he have to shoot himself?! He was so hot. Made my ex jealous."

Then, she giggled. Kurt wasn't just hot, he was sexy, and she was glad she could finally be open about it now that Scott wasn't around.